The pollution of the environment by spilling harmful substances, either intentionally or unintentionally, can cause significant damage to the environment. This is especially true if the harmful substances are not quickly retrieved. One of the more commonly spilled pollutants is oil. Large quantities of oil are spilled on both land and sea in a variety of ways. For instance, oil can be spilled during on-shore and off-shore oil exploration, by accidents occurring during the transportation of oil both on land and on sea, and even through the normal, but inefficient, use of oil. Whatever the reason for the oil spill, it is of great environmental concern to retrieve the spilled oil quickly and efficiently, and clean the polluted areas.
There exists many conventional devices for retrieving spilled substances such as oil. These conventional retrieving devices commonly employ various absorption, suction, centrifugal and skimming techniques. However, conventional retrieving devices suffer from a number of disadvantages. In particular, conventional retrieving devices are often complex, expensive devices that are difficult to operate, prone to breaking down, and not easily fixed. These disadvantages become especially problematic during lengthy clean-ups of large spills. Additionally, conventional devices are not generally versatile. Often, they are designed for specific environments, i.e., calm waters, and/or they have a small capacity. Further, conventional devices often experience great difficulty in handling high viscous oils or oil made more viscous due to being spilled in cold environments. Still further, conventional devices are limited only for retrieving items and can not perform other functions such as heating and cooling of living conditions.
Examples of prior art oil spill retrieval systems are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,406 to Damberger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,756 to Bhuta et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,225 to Strain; U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,497 to Crema; U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,805 to Faust et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,536 to von Winckelmann; U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,121 to McWhinnie; U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,835 to DeMichael; U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,066 to Jorgensen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,407 to Brelsford; U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,266 to Barnes et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,906 to Oberg.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for a method and apparatus for collecting a substance that is simple, inexpensive, efficient, capable of retrieving substances that are highly viscous, and capable of performing multiple functions beyond collecting substances. This invention addresses these needs in the art, along with other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.